A Wolf and a Swan
by Smokefly
Summary: The brutal murders sends waves of terror through the community of Fables Town. Not just the people of the Homelands, but also every other Fable in New York is left horrified. The fable Ida does everything she can to support her friend Bigby through the tough time, but what is her role going to be in the time to come?
1. A Wolf and a Swan

**Heyooo. I started writing this (my first fanfic!) maniaclly after finishing the first episode of the game. Since then I've finished the game and read all the comics, so I know the franchise pretty well (I do have an alternative Goldilocks, but that not a thing for now!). This little story is not going to be 100% accurate to the game, with I apologise for. I also apologise in advance for my grammar, and you are more than welcome to point out my mistakes. **  
><strong>I wrote this a long time ago, and lost my interest, but I still thought I would share what I wrote so far. If you like it, I might continue. So far I have threefour small, finished chapters. Tell me what you think in any case. I hope you like what you read. **  
><strong>Love youuu.<strong>

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><p>He regained consciousness from one second to the other. He sat straight up in the bed, back stiff and face twisted. The hospital bed quivered in its joints, and the thin blanket fell to the floor. His clothes were messy and stained, and so was his face.<p>

"Where am I?!"

She got up from the chair in the corner of the hospital room and closed the book in her hands. "You're lucky that I was working nightshift. Think of all the young, pretty nurses I've saved. And think of what Crane would've said."

It only took him a split second to recognize her, his keen eyes needing nothing else that the dim light in the room. That wasn't very impressive though. She didn't really look like an ordinary New Yorker.

"Idís?" He seemed to calm down a little, then she twitched and frowned.

"For the love of the Gods, Bigby, I told you not to call me that!"

Then he did something as uncharacteristic as apologizing. He would never really get used to calling her anything other than her name, but he knew better than to start an argument. He didn't really feel like it anyway.

He was still seated in the bed, and she was still standing beside him with the book clutched in her pale hands. They looked at each other in silence for a long time.

It was Ida's ice crystal eyes that brought him back to reality. Reminded him about Snow White's eyes, almost the same color, but empty and glossy, starring into the nothingness only she could see. The surprising and unfathomable pain kept coming back, and he regretted not punching a little harder, on whoever had been the other part of his bar fight.

She broke the silence and his train of thought. "What poor culprit did you beat up this time?"

He didn't answer.

"Looks like you found the biggest Fable around, and asked him about his 'happily ever after'!" At first she smiled a pretty grim smile, but then she frowned again and her mouth became narrow. She wanted to continue, but somehow she had a hard time expressing the concern that was gnawing in her gut. "Do I really need to assign you a dog sitter?"

"You know, right?" Suddenly it felt like his tongue had gone numb, and the words were curled tight in his throat. "About Snow?"

She knew, and she was devastated. Her relationship with Snow was… honestly, all the memories she had of the dark haired beauty, was the chasm she'd made between Bigby and her. The two women probably could've been good friends, if the circumstances had been different. If Snow hadn't been part of the 'government', and if she hadn't taken Ida's place as the wolfman's favorite female creature. Yet Ida had respected her, and when they'd occasionally met, they'd enjoyed each other's company.

Everybody in Fabletown knew how Bigby felt about Snow. Even Kai knew, and he didn't even have eyes in his head. It was impossible to miss. The way he looked at her. The way he changed from big bad wolf to lapdog in her presence. Fabletown was so full of corruption that the two of them had been… giving people hope. And with her gone... For Gods' sake, she'd only been gone for a couple of hours, and he was already pale and cold.

Bigby didn't look like he wanted to leave the bed.

"I'm fine!" At least he made an effort not to growl at her. That was a good sign. Right?

She put her hands on her hips. "As authorized nurse I can only recommend one thing. Fresh air."

He scratched his red brown stubbles, and she smiled a smile that bared her white teeth. Her white uniform made her look like a ghost.

With a little help, he quickly rose from the bed, and became more or less presentable. His shirt did have some suspicious stains, but with his big trench coat it was less noticeable. His black eye was a little harder to conceal, but he wore it like a badge of pride. She wondered if his bruised knuckles were becoming chronic. Somehow she couldn't help but find it attractive. She blushed and blamed her roots.

He held the door for her on the way out. The air was dark and cold, and goose bumps spread across his hairy skin. The cold didn't seem to hurt her, and she left her jacket unbuttoned.

"I miss my fur." He admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I miss my armor!" She quickly agreed.

There was still plenty of traffic in the Bronx, even though the hours were getting late. Taxi by taxi drove by in a yellow fog, and night owls were glimmering in the neon lights.

Neither of them said much on the stroll. They both preferred the peaceful silence. He lit a cigarette, without offering her. He already knew she preferred her lungs as smoke free as possible.

The Homelands wasn't far from the hospital, and it wasn't long before they could see the columns and the gilded wrought iron gate. There were still a few lights in some of windows but no silhouettes in sight. They stopped in front of the doorsteps and he threw his cigarette away. He stepped on it to put the embers out, and smeared soot on the tiles.

Somehow all the people were gone, even the blood, and all that was left of the evening's nightmares was his memories and the ever present smell of blood in his nose.

Then he returned his attention to her. Her hands were in her pockets, and she was observing him with her almost luminous blue eyes.

He didn't say anything, but she'd known him long enough. They didn't need words anymore.

"I love to walk the dog, the pleasure is all mine."

He always hated when people made dog jokes, but somehow it was okay when it was her. Maybe because he knew that she missed his fur almost as much as he did. Just because they hadn't spent much time together since the Exile, it didn't mean that hundreds of years of friendship meant nothing. Even though they'd both changed a lot since the good old days.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She smiled sheepishly. A sudden impulse made her take a step forward and give him a pat on the back. "I hope I won't see you again too soon, Biggy."

She could hear him grind his teeth, when she turned around and started walking. Time seemed to pass very slowly, as she was leaving The Homelands behind her, listening to the sound of the city. He was still standing in front of the gate when she reached around the block. Her stomach contracted, and her smile faded.

"Gods dammit."


	2. The Top Apartment

**I might just upload all that I have, and then call it a day. And WAUW, what is THIS, two more OCs?! (kinda).  
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><p><strong>The top apartment.<strong>

When she reached her front door, the moon was almost gone. She hurried into the stairway, searching for the keys in her pockets, and taking the stairs four steps at a time. When she reached the top apartment, her hands shook enough to make it hard to unlock the door.

She tried to be as silent as possible, but was never a quality of hers. All the jackets on the coat stand were knocked down when she tried to hang hers up, and it all fell to the floor. Loudly.

She winched, and begged to all the Gods she knew the names of, that everybody was still asleep. Without more catastrophes, she made her way to the bedroom. She didn't make it further than the living room.

"You're late."

Ida froze solid in the almost pitch dark room, but then turned to meet the silhouette in corner.

"Sorry. Biggy showed up." she tried to explain, while she looked for the light switch.

"Bigby? At the hospital?"

Her fingers found the switch. A lamp on a table lit up, and the silhouette was revealed.

"You know what happened to Snow. He's totally lost it Mulan. I'm worried."

An expression of compassion flashed by the Chinese woman's face, before she shorted the distance between her and Ida. "I know. I know."

She wrapped her arms around the much taller woman, as if it was her who needed the comfort. Apparently it was. Ida hugged Mulan tightly, and rested her chin on her hair.

"You don't leave the fucking house until the murderer is found." She whispered into the shiny, dark hair.

"I can fucking protect myself. And we can't afford to skip the job. Remember, we're big adults who have mouths to feed." She muttered back, her breath warming Ida's collarbones.

None of them moved for quite some time, before a faint snoring dragged them from their little wonderland.

"Let's go to bed."

Then they tiptoed to the bathroom. They hurried in their sleepwear, Mulan in her striped pajamas, and Ida in an old Led Zeppelin t-shirt, giggling. Then, with some persuasion from Mulans' side, they brushed their teeth.

When they finally crawled underneath the blanket, and silence spread through the apartment, Ida allowed herself to relax. She sunk deep into the mattress, and pulled the blanket all the way up to her nose.

She was tired. She was always tired after the nightshifts, but lately it'd gotten worse. All her muscles felt tired, her heart included. Maybe that's what heartbreak felt like. A centuries old heartbreak.

Then Mulan grabbed her hand, and she couldn't help but smile in the dark. She was stupid to think that her heart was broken. It was just… bruised. She'd stopped to hope that it would ever heal after what happened when they were driven from their homes, but sometimes, when she forgot for a second, she could pretend to be happy for a while.

Mulan only allowed Ida in her bed on rare occasions, usually when she had nightmares or when Ida had a bad day. It was originally Ida's bed, but since Mulan earned more money than her, she felt bad about expelling her to the couch. Maybe it would be fair that the smaller woman slept in the couch, but Ida would not hear it. Maybe she left the Homelands without her sisters, but she damn well still had her dignity.

"Alice would _just_ _not_ turn her music down tonight."

Ida sighed and curled up turned towards Mulan. She could barely see her dark eyes glimpse in the dark. "Hmm?"

"Molly couldn't sleep, so I had to turn into 'mother monster' again. The girl almost ripped my head off."

"Hmm."

"Do she seem more aggressive to you lately? Something happened in school? She told you something?"

"She was stabbed in the foot, chased by a bear, almost decapitated and tortured by the Red Queen. She's allowed to be a little aggressive, don't you think?"

Mulan fell silent, and once again, the only sound was Alice's faint snoring in her bedroom close by.

"She's been touched by war just as much as we have. And for Gods' sake, she's a teenager. She's supposed to be a little bitch, and we're supposed to be… 'mother monsters."

Mulan smirked. "Don't pretend you suffered under your 'war'."

Ida didn't know whether to be happy or sad. She never knew, when she thought about the Homelands. "Yeah, I fucking miss it."

"This world is so boring." Mulan agreed.

Ida exhaled, and pulled herself up, resting her cheek on her hand. "Why don't you join the military then?"

"Traveling somewhere warm to shoot people with guns? No thanks."

"You've always been so noble. You're too good for this world. Only appreciating war because it makes you look good."

Mulan turned towards Ida, and grabbed her around the throat with a grunt. She pulled her down, and used all her weight to push her down into the soft bed. "Shut up." she whispered, in a tone of voice Ida perceived as feigned anger.

Abusing her superior strength, Ida somehow managed to turn the tables on Mulan. Trying to keep as silent as possible, they wrestled for the upper hand for some time. Ida was indeed stronger than her smaller opponent, but Mulan knew a lot of handy tricks. Dirty tricks, if you asked Ida.

A knocking on the wall, made both women stiffen. Then they quickly retrieved the blanket from the floor, crawled underneath and tried to smother their giggling.

"She's gonna kill us tomorrow!"

"Shut up!" Mulan repeated, pinching Ida's waist.

Ida used the rest of the time, before she went asleep, to plan her revenge. Mulan was NOT gonna get the final point.

They both had terrible nightmares.


End file.
